Golf club



Dec. 9,

R. W. ELLINGHAM GOLF CLUB Filed Dec. 14, 1922 INVENTOR ATTORNEY$` a golf club having commonly -putter head; i

line4-4 of Fig. 2.

Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

.UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE.

GOLF CLUB. p

appiicaa'on nie-a December 14, 1822. seriai mi. 868,814.

To all 'whom it mag/. comem:

Be it known that I, Ronii'r `W; ELLiNG- HAM, citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful, Improvements in Golf Clubs, of which the following is a specification.` i w The present invention relates 'to gulf clubs and more particularlT to gulfl clubs knownv as putters. j w i One object of the invention is'to provide improved means whereby the weight of the head of the club may be varied and the distribution of said weight adjustedf` to suit the requirements dof the user.

Another object of the invention is to provide certain new and useful improvements in golf clubeonstruction for the 'Purpose of reinforcing the striking face and otherwise strengthening, the head of the club withoutdetracting in any way from the desired neat and attractive appearance thereof. w p

Another object of the invention is to provide; in a putter having a head constructed and faced with metal at the puttin side thereof, means adapted 'to perform't e dual function of reinforcing said metallic facing andv aifording a permanent'fand distinct visual indicatioii ofthe correct'line of putt. o To the accomplishment vof thesevvobjects the vinvention consists in they features of construction and in the combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter deseribed and claimed. f i i 1 In the'accompan ingldrawin Fig 1 is a top p air-viewofffti ei lead of aputter constructed infiaccoidance with vthe present'invention;` h 1 Fig. 2' is a rear elevatioiilwiew of the Fi'g.y 3is a sectional view along `the line 3-3 ofFig. 1; and t Fig. I``is a sectional view Referring to the drawings, the head of a i olf club* eommonlv' known as a utter is indicated'; at 5. Thex putter hea vis constructed partially of met-al and partially. of' Wood, the metallic portion of the head beingthe nature of a frame as indicated at 6 while the wooden 'portion of the head consistsof-two solid blocks 7 which are mkeaj'aiongthe- 'are of substantiall throughout from their top to their bottom sha'ped to lfitsn ly inlcavities provided to receive them in tie frame 6. The frame 6 o 'consists of an integral casting lof aluminum -or otherpmaterial having the required specifie ``-gravit and tensile strength. The

framepis formed with a neck 9 having a. socket 'therein to receive the shaft of the club, an upright wing portion 10 the outer face;

side of which constitutes the puttin and a sole or ground portion 11 which ex' tends at right angles to the putting faoe and protects the bottoni of the blocks 7 from wear.

Formedat the upper side of the sole 11 'of the frame and connecting the sole 11 withl the upright wing portion 10 is a cylindrical protuberanoe 12 ,which extends at right an lesto said Wing portion and is located su stantially midwa between the toe andheel of the sole 11. ;The protuberance 12 is axially bored from the rear of the lframe to provide a reoess or pocket 13 for the neception of a removable weight or balance-ohanging-unit 14 comprising one or more separable members for use in adjustingthe balance of the club or changing the weight thereof as will be hereinafter explained. The protuberance 12 valso serves .to stiflen and reinforce the uprightV wing portion 10 in its central portion where it Strikes the ball and helps tov maintain the striking face of the club at the requisite angle relatively to-the bottom face thereof. Bv reason of this reinforcement the head is adapted tozbe used for driving as well as 'for putting. The sole 11 of the frame is also provided with threaded 'apertures' in thetoe and lieel portions thereof, as at 15 and 16, and the wooden blocks 7 are bored from their lower sides, the bores in said blocks being located to register with the apertui'es 15 and 16 andvbeingaadapted to receive weight' units 17 and 18, respectively,

,which are similarito and may be used inconjunction with the weight units 14 .for adiusting the balance of'the club.

The wooden blocks 7 are fashioned to 'unpart the required contour to the club head and the o are rigidl secured in place by means o screws20 w ich extend through the sole portion 11 Vof the frame. The blocks 7 faces. The cylindrical surfaces of the holvlow protuberances 12 do not rise to the level uniform thickness vio or fin22 extends axially along the highest Eortion of the protuberance between the two looks 7, the upper face of said fin being flush with the upper faces of said blocks as well as' with the upper edge of the upright Wing ortion 10. The fin 22 extends from the middle of the upright wing portionll and at right angles to the striking face thereof, and constitutes a permanent and distinctive line br marker for indicating the line of putt Preferably the blocks 7 are of a dark reddish color when finished so that the aluminum fin 22 willstand out clearly by contrast with the dark Wood at each side thereof and will thus afford a guide line which can be `easily and distinctly seen by the player when addressing the ball;

`The weight unit 14 comprises one or more disk or collars 24 which are threaded upon the reduced shank portion of a screw 25.

vThe screw 25 isprovided with a portion of enlarged diametel` adjacent its head 26, the enlarfied portion 25 being screw-threaded into the socket 13,, v The head 26 is rovided with a segmental slot 27 which is a a ted to receive the edge of a coin bysme'ans o which the screw may be turned foi'the pur ose of removing or inserting the same and t us removin or replacing all the wei ht collars by a single operation. The weig ts or collars 24 are preferably made of Babbitt metal which is heavy and sutiiciently hard to pro erly retain the sha e of the screw threa s. Three collars or weights 24;.are shown u on the`screw`25 Vbut more or less may be use as inalyhbel found desirable. e e

- el weight units, 17 and 18 at the heel and toe of the club are similar to the weight unit 14 already described, and are carried in a similar manner by means of screws 28 which haveV enlarged shank portions 29 that are vthreaded into the a ertures 15 and 16 in the sole'll, and reduce shanlr portions 30 upon which are threaded one or`v more weights or collars 31 which, together with Athe screws 28, constitute the weig t units 17 and 18. The

screws 28 are provided with heads 32 having coin slots therein to facilitate their insertion and 'removal, the heads being fiat and ar- 'ranged to be vflush with the bottom face of the sole 11 when the screw is tightened in place. The masses of weight represented by the collarsl may be varied at will' by var ing the number of separate collars upon t e screws 28.V The collars 31 are interchan a'ble upon'the two screws 28. The above escribed construction and arrangement of the vweight units is such thatl the user of the club may adjust or rearrange .the weights at will l `to shift the centeriof gravity of the club to `obtain the desired balance or to oflset the useris tendency to va from the true line of putt. For example, i a Elayer finds that the all invariably goes to t eri ht of the hole this condition may be rectifie 'by lightening the weight of the toe and increasing the weight of the heel through rearrangement of the weights in the toe and heel recesses. On the other hand if he finds he has a tendenc to putt the ball to the left of the hole he wi l be able to putt near to the true line if he rearranges the weights in the toe or heel recesses or both to make the toe heavier than the heel. The wei hts in the central reoess may be rearran e as desired to vary the weight of the c ub head or to transversely adjust its center of gravity.

With the above described construction, the adjustments of the weights -may be made with a minimum amount of efi'ort inasmuch as all the weights in each recess are assembled togetherv upon a sin le holder in the form of a screw, the weig ts and the screw itself, 'in each instance constituting a single weight element which may be removed as a unit by looslning and withdrawin the screw, or which may be inserted as a unit and locked securely in place by tightening the screw. Inasmuch as the screws are provided with coin vslots the screws ma be conveniently Vremoved and z'elaced with the aid of any ordinary coin. bviously, the screws may be used without the weights if it is desired to lighten the club to that extent. It is further pointed out that by reason of the fact that the longitudinal axes of the weight units 17 and 18 are disposed in the longitudinall medial ,plane of the head, the toe and heel balance of the head may be varied as may be desired without shifting the center of ravity transversely of the head.

he invention has beendisclosed herein for illustrative purposes in an embodiment at present preferred but it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

What 1s claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is 1. A putter head having a weight-receiving recess extending forwardl from its rear face substantially midway o the heel and toe, and similar recesses extending upwardly from the bottom face of the head at the heel and toe, a screw for each of said each screw having a relatively short shank adapted to be threaded into the month of the recess and a threaded shank extension of reduced diameter, and a plurality of weights adapted to fitloosely in said reoess and having threaded apertures for receiving said shank extensions whereby said weights may be assembled side-by-slde upon said screws so as to be removable with the screws.

2. In a golf club, the combination of a head having a weight-receiving reoess therein, and a weiht element adapted to be received in sai reoess, screw-threaded at its mouth and a weight element adapted to be Ill received in said recess, said element com' prising a screw having a threaded shank of smaller diameter than said recess and a threaded enlargement of said shank adjacent the head of the screw for interengagement with the threaded month of said re cess whereby said element may be rigidly but removably secured to said head, a plurality of'separable weight collars threaded upon said serew shank and ca able of ad- 'ustmentthereon for varying t e weight or alanoe of the head.

3. A putter head comprising non-metallic toe and heel blocks and an integral metallic frame partially enclosing and rigidly secured to said blocks, said frame consisting of a sole plate for rotecting the bottom of the head, an uprig t Wing portion providing a striking face, aneck having a socket to receive the shaft, andl a strengthening web connectin said heel plate and Wing portion, said we extending between the toe and heel blocks at right angles to said wing portion and having itsu per edge flush 'with the upper faoes of sai blocks to serve as a guide for indicatin the line of putt.

In testimony whereo I have aflixed my signature.

ROBERT W. ELLINGHAM. 

